‘Cajun John Wayne’ elected to Congress

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Lt. Clay Higgins (from KATC)

‘Cajun John Wayne’ elected to Congress

Lt. Clay Higgins (from KATC)

LAKE CHARLES, La. (WGNO) – Clay Higgins, the outspoken, tough-talking former sheriff’s deputy from St. Landry Parish who made a name for himself as the “Cajun John Wayne,” has been elected to Congress.

Higgins defeated Public Service Commissioner and former Lt. Gov. Scott Angelle in the race for Louisiana’s 3rd Congressional District, which encompasses much of Acadiana and the Lake Charles area. The Associated Press called the race with 95 percent of precincts reporting.

Higgins, a Republican who does not live in the district he was just elected to represent, was best known for producing Crime Stoppers videos for KATC-TV3 in Lafayette. The videos went so viral that Jimmy Fallon of The Tonight Show said Higgins would make a good president.

“That a regular American can stand up and say I will serve humbly my fellow man, every American across my district, and this is exactly what I shall do,” Higgins said during his victory speech in Lake Charles tonight.

Angelle, R-Breaux Bridge, has been in politics for almost 30 years, starting on the St. Martin Parish Police Jury, then moving on to St. Martin Parish president before serving as secretary of the Department of Natural Resources under former Govs. Kathleen Blanco and Bobby Jindal.

He was appointed by Jindal in 2010 to serve as interim lieutenant governor after Mitch Landrieu left that office to be mayor of New Orleans. Angelle currently serves on the Louisiana Public Service Commission.

Higgins will replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, a Lafayette Republican who has represented Louisiana’s 3rd since 2004. He ran for the U.S. Senate seat that Treasurer John Kennedy won tonight, but he didn’t prevail in a runoff.